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The logo of Johnson & Johnson is seen on a Brussels' office of the company in Diegem, Belgium September 21, 2023. J&J raised its annual profit forecast, helped by strong sales from its pharmaceutical business, and shares of the U.S. healthcare conglomerate were off about 1%. Excluding its consumer health unit, J&J now expects 2023 adjusted profit of $10.07 to $10.13 per share, up from its previous view of $10.00 to $10.10. Sales at J&J's medical device unit came in at $7.46 billion, shy of Wall Street estimates of $7.58 billion. J&J finalized the biggest shake-up in its 137-year history in August with the spinoff, but retained a 9.5% stake in its iconic consumer health business.

Persons: Johnson, Yves Herman, J, Vamil Divan, Joseph Wolk, Ozempic, Wolk, Bhanvi Satija, Sriparna Roy, Patrick Wingrove, Shounak Dasgupta, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Johnson, REUTERS, Guggenheim Partners, Vamil, Reuters Graphics, J, Thomson, &' $, & $, & $ Locations: Brussels, Diegem, Belgium, Bengaluru, New York

The logo of Johnson & Johnson is seen on a Brussels' office of the company in Diegem, Belgium September 21, 2023. Investors are focused on how J&J, now a standalone pharmaceutical and medical devices company, will reach its goal of $57 billion in drug sales by 2025. Johnson & Johnson recorded a $21-billion gain in the third quarter from the spin-off of its consumer health unit. Stelara, J&J's top-selling anti-inflammatory drug, brought in sales of $2.86 billion in the quarter, above LSEG estimates of $2.61 billion. Excluding its consumer health unit, J&J now expects 2023 adjusted profit of $10.07 to $10.13 per share, compared with its previous outlook of $10.00 to $10.10 per share.

Persons: Johnson, Yves Herman, MedTech, Cantor Fitzgerald, Louise Chen, Stelara, Joseph Wolk, Wolk, J, Bhanvi Satija, Sriparna Roy, Patrick Wingrove, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Johnson, REUTERS, Innovative Medicine, Reuters, Thomson, & $, & $ Locations: Brussels, Diegem, Belgium, Stelara, U.S, United States, Bengaluru, New York

By comparison, a group of people who also dieted and exercised, but then received dummy shots, lost weight initially but then regained some, researchers reported Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine. Participants in both groups lost about 7% of their body weight, or almost 17 pounds (8 kilograms), during the diet-and-exercise phase. Those who received the drug went on to lose an additional 18.4% of initial body weight, or about 44 pounds (20 kilograms) more, on average. Nearly 29% of those taking the drug lost at least a quarter of their body weight, compared with just over 1% of those taking placebo. Side effects including nausea, diarrhea and constipation were reported more frequently in people taking the drug than those taking the placebo.

Persons: Mounjaro, ”, Thomas Wadden, Eli Lilly, it's, Caroline Apovian, wasn't, tirzepatide, “, Lilly Organizations: Nature, University, Pennsylvania, Brigham, Women's, Novo Nordisk, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S, ”

How GLP-1 drugs work Sorting through the facts reveals some likely winners and losers. LLY YTD mountain Eli Lilly shares year to date performance It is still early days for GLP-1 medications. Many have seen the rise of GLP-1 drugs as a threat to the medical device industry. Also, not all patients are able to tolerate GLP-1 drugs, which can cause side effects such as nausea. Among other medtech stocks, Plovanic sees GLP-1 drugs as an "incremental positive" for Dexcom, which makes continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), but an "incremental negative" for insulin pump makers like Insulet.

Persons: Insulet, Medtronic, Dexcom, BAX, NASH, Eli Lilly, Peter Verdult, Lilly, Eli Lilly aren't, Piper Sandler, Wegovy, Yasmeen Rahimi, Robbie Marcus, Marcus, hasn't, Baxter, David Low doesn't, William Plovanic, Craig Wong, Pan, Plovanic, Matt O'Brien, O'Brien, Rippling, Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley, Gutman, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Baxter International, Baxter, GLP, Citi, Novo, Bank of America, Viking Therapeutics, Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Amgen, Companies, Fisher, Reuters, Inspire, Systems, JPMorgan, RBC Capital, Walmart, underperformance Locations: GLP, U.S, DaVita, ResMed

☆ How is the rise of GLP-1 weight loss drugs affecting market action? Jim Cramer explains
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday explained how GLP-1 drugs are influencing market action. GLP-1 drugs were initially approved to treat diabetes, but many found off-label use to help with weight loss. Popular GLP-1 drugs include Eli Lilly 's Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk 's Wegovy, the latter of which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for weight loss management. Even though it seems early to asses the impact of these drugs, they are already affecting stocks, Cramer said. Intuitive Surgical also saw shares slide when executives noted slowed growth in bariatric surgeries last quarter, potentially due to increased use of GLP-1 drugs.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, there'll, Eli Lilly, Cramer, Abbott Labs —, Lilly's Mounjaro Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Food and Drug Administration, Abbott Labs

☆ How the weight loss boom could impact the real estate market
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

NNN YTD mountain NNN REIT shares have fallen more than 22%. If that vision comes to pass, it could boost apartment operators such as Equity Residential , Avalonbay Communities and Apartment Income REIT , among others. PEAK YTD mountain Healthpeak shares are down 26% since January and hit a 52-week low Tuesday. Healthpeak shares hit a 52-week low on Tuesday, while Welltower shares shed more than 2%. Healthpeak shares are down more than 26% over the same period.

Persons: Jefferies, Jonathan Petersen, Petersen, Simon, Morgan Stanley, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Federal Realty Investment Trust, Equity Locations: U.S, Canada

☆ You Won’t Lose Weight on Ozempic Forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Dani Blum | More About Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But doctors say some people seek out these drugs to lose as much weight as possible — and are dismayed and disillusioned when they stop. When they do, they tend to regain the weight they lost. Medications like Ozempic mimic a naturally occurring hormone and slow the emptying of the stomach, so that we feel fuller, faster and for longer. In clinical trials of semaglutide, the compound in Ozempic and Wegovy, people with diabetes have tended to lose less weight, less quickly, than people who did not have the condition, Dr. Hagan said. A small proportion of those who take these drugs won’t lose weight at all, he added.

Persons: ” Ms, Meinecke, Scott Hagan, Hagan, Andrew Kraftson Organizations: University of Washington, Michigan Medicine

A selection of injector pens for the Wegovy weight loss drug are shown in this photo illustration in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsFRANKFURT, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Supplies of Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) popular weight-loss drug Wegovy are limited in Germany less than a month after its launch in Europe's largest drug market, major drug distributors and doctors told Reuters. The volumes of the weekly injection that the Danish drugmaker has delivered to the country so far have fallen short of strong demand, the wholesalers said. "Demand is by far exceeding the available volumes," a spokesperson for Noweda, which has almost a quarter of the German drug wholesale trade, told Reuters, adding the problem was nationwide. The distributors, which act as go-betweens for drug companies and pharmacies, declined to give details of volumes.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Thomas Horbach, Sanacorp, Pharmahandel, Pharma Privat, Helios St, Elisabeth Klinik, Jodok Fink, ”, Ludwig Burger, Maggie Fick, Josephine Mason, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Noweda, Novo, Pharma, Thomson Locations: Chicago , Illinois, U.S, Novo, Germany, Europe, Munich, Oberhausen, Freiburg, Frankfurt, London

☆ As weight loss drug stocks rallied on a landmark study, these stocks were over sold, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

However, the pharmaceutical companies are making the case that weight loss can improve health, and possibly lower health-care costs over time. But analysts have said the news isn't all bad for such stocks, and many were fell too low on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank analyst Imron Zafar estimated Thursday that bariatric surgery accounts for about 5% of Intuitive Surgical's U.S. robotic surgery business, but has been driving much of the company's growth. Some of the surgeons Zafar spoke with said any drop off in bariatric surgery was likely to be offset by increased use of the robot for other procedures. But they expect the drugs will remain necessary because GLP-1 drugs have yet to show they improve fibrosis, which is associated with NASH.

Persons: nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH, Abbott, Robbie Marcus, Marcus, Marcus doesn't, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Stryker, Smith, Zimmer Biomet, Bariatric, Imron Zafar, Zafar Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Abbott Laboratories, CNBC, JPMorgan, Companies, Inspire Medical Systems, Resmed, Philips, Nephew, Deutsche Bank, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Sagimet Biosciences, Akero Therapeutics, Terns Pharmaceuticals, Viking Therapeutics, Madrigal Locations: U.S

☆ Insurers face long road, high cost to cover obesity drugs after promising Wegovy heart health data
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

There is likely a long way to go before the U.S. sees increased insurance coverage for obesity drugs. While the trial results demonstrate that obesity drugs may have significant health benefits beyond shedding unwanted pounds, organizations representing U.S. insurers emphasized that the data is still preliminary. "Health insurance providers will continue to analyze new evidence as it becomes available," he added. Ceci Connolly, CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, acknowledged the promise of the data but said "outrageous prices should give everyone pause." The organization represents regional, community-based health plans that cover more than 18 million Americans across the U.S.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Wegovy, Eli Lilly, David Allen, Ceci Connolly, Jared Holz, It's, Debra Tyler's, Joe Buglewicz, Eduardo Grunvald, George Frey, UCSD's Gunvald, Eli, Ethan Lazarus, Lazarus Organizations: Reuters Novo Nordisk, Novo Nordisk, America's Health, Alliance of Community Health, U.S, Drugs, Pfizer, Medicare, CVS, Aetna, CNBC, Washington Post, Getty, UCSD Health's Center, International Foundation of Employee, University of Texas System, UTS, Novo, Reuters, Obesity Medicine Association, New England, of Medicine Locations: Chicago , Illinois, U.S, Mizuho, Killingworth, Conn, Texas

☆ Why this landmark cardiac study means a bigger market for Lilly's blockbuster weight loss drug
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

A landmark study of the cardiovascular benefits of weight loss drug Wegovy is being seen as a pivotal step toward broadening access to these drugs. The drug, also known as tirzepatide, is expected to be approved for weight loss by the Food and Drug Administration by year-end. Notably, Medicare does reimburse obese patients for weight loss surgery, but Mounjaro has been able to help patients realize an average weight loss that approaches the typical success of bariatric procedures. If CMS is able to reimburse patients for weight loss treatment that would significantly increase access, boosting sales. "This is the first time a weight [loss] medicinal intervention has shown to have cardiovascular risk reduction.

Persons: enrollees, Eli Lilly, Lilly, Akash Tewari, NVO, Tewari, Wells, Mounjaro, Mohit Bansal, Robert Califf, Goldman Sachs, Chris Shibutani, Shibutani, Goldman, Refinitiv, Morgan Stanley, comorbidities, Bansal Organizations: Nordisk's Ozempic, Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, Jefferies, Medicare, Services, GLP, STAT, Goldman, Lilly, Novo Nordisk, BMI, Novo Locations: U.S, GLP, Tuesday's

Interviews with seven doctors and two other potential users of Wegovy from Germany, where Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) weight-loss drug will become available at the end of July, show the office administrator isn't alone. Allianz (ALVG.DE) says it will pay if a physician diagnoses a medical need while Debeka said its plans exclude weight-loss treatments. In Germany, Wegovy will be administered with the same injection pen used in Norway and Denmark, not the one used in the United States to avoid hitting supplies there. "Patients are so desperate in Germany that they will pay out of their pocket for the medication." "My experience is that people will be able to pay for it out of (their own) pocket," said Horbach.

Persons: Doctor Thomas Horbach, Wegovy, Novo, Jessica Lenth, isn't, I've, Lenth, Debeka, Robert Koch, Danish drugmaker, Sylvia Weiner, Karl Rheinwalt, Thomas Horbach, Weiner, Rheinwalt, Juergen Ordemann, Michael Wirtz, Wirtz, Irina Ernstberger, Ernstberger, Ludwig Burger, Maggie Fick, Patricia Weiss, Josephine Mason, Catherine Evans Organizations: Novo Nordisk, FRANKFURT, Reuters, Allianz, European Union, Robert Koch Institute, Sana Klinikum, St, Hospital, Ozempic, Novo, Thomson Locations: Germany, Munich, LONDON, Hamburg, Wegovy, United States, Danish, Norway, Denmark, Sana, Frankfurt, St Franziskus, Hospital Cologne, Berlin's, Winsen, Lower Saxony, London

☆ The Investing Club's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Club's top 10 things to watch Friday, July 21 1. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Eli Lilly to $560 a share, up from $551. KeyBanc raised its price target on Club holding Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to $285 a share, from $242, while maintaining an overweight weighting on the stock. Stifel raised its price target on Club holding Meta Platforms (META) to $336 a share, from $280, while maintaining a buy rating on the stock. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Persons: it's, Z, Morgan Stanley, Eli Lilly, KeyBanc, SLB, Halliburton, SVB Leerink, Johnson, Stifel, DA Davidson, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim Organizations: Nasdaq, American Express, Novo Nordisk, Palo Alto Networks, Johnson, . Railroad, CSX, Microsoft, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC Locations: millennials

☆ The Risks of Taking Drugs Like Ozempic When You’re Over 65
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Dani Blum | More About Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That’s particularly a concern for older adults, obesity medicine experts say. The more muscle someone over the age of 65 loses, the greater their risk of becoming frail or suffering a fracture or fall (which can be fatal in older adults). It is crucial for older adults to maintain muscle mass so that they can stay mobile and independent. Muscle mass naturally dwindles with age. Clinical trials on semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, have typically enrolled people in their 40s and 50s.

Persons: — you’re, Scott Hagan, Janice Jin Hwang Organizations: University of Washington, University of North Carolina School of Medicine

☆ Lisa Marie Presley died of small bowel obstruction - coroner
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 13 (Reuters) - Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis Presley, died of a small bowel obstruction as a delayed consequence of bariatric weight loss surgery, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reported on Friday, six months after she died. Presley, a singer and songwriter in her own right, had been taken to hospital after reportedly suffering cardiac arrest at her home. The medical examiner listed the cause of death as "sequelae of small bowel obstruction." "The obstruction was in the form of a strangulated small bowel caused by adhesions that developed after bariatric surgery years ago," the examiner said in a report. She was the only child of one of the greatest stars in American music, and was 9 years old when Elvis Presley died of heart failure at age 42 in 1977 at Graceland.

Persons: Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley, Presley, Priscilla Presley, Austin Butler, Riley Keough, Finley, Harper Lockwood, Michael Jackson, Nicholas Cage, Daniel Trotta, Robert Birsel Organizations: Los Angeles, Medical, Golden Globe, Thomson Locations: Beverly Hills , California, Graceland

☆ Lisa Marie Presley died of small bowel obstruction, coroner says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lisa Marie Presley, the singer-songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley, died in January as a result of “a small bowel obstruction” caused by scar tissue that developed after bariatric surgery years ago, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said on Thursday. Ms. Presley had been complaining on Jan. 12 of severe abdominal pain, according to an autopsy report released on Thursday by the medical examiner’s office. Later that day, she was found unresponsive at her home in Calabasas, Calif., by her ex-husband, who was not named in the report. Ms. Presley, 54, was taken by paramedics to a hospital, where she went into cardiac arrest and died that afternoon. The report stated that although Ms. Presley had a previous history of drug use, she was sober “for the past few years.” Still, health problems appeared to have occurred after her bariatric surgery, which is generally considered a treatment option for people with a high body mass index who failed to lose weight with diet and exercise alone.

Persons: Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley, Presley, ” Organizations: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Medical Locations: Los Angeles County, Calabasas , Calif

☆ Analysis: Weight loss drug candidates multiply, spurring hopes of better outcomes, lower costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Deena Beasley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

More than 40% of Americans are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and demand is strong for treatments to reduce body weight as well as maintain weight loss. The company said it would continue to develop its twice-daily weight loss drug candidate. Structure Therapeutics (GPCR.O) is developing oral obesity drugs that it says are simpler to manufacture than the current injectables. "We define weight loss quality as the percentage of weight loss attributed to fat loss," said Versanis Chief Scientific Officer Lloyd Klickstein. "With diets, bariatric surgery, incretin drugs or other weight loss drugs, two-thirds to three-quarters of the weight loss is fat, but one-quarter to one-third is lean."

Persons: Robert Gabbay, Eli Lilly, Lilly's, Wegovy, Mico Guevarra, Lilly, Jeff Emmick, Ray Stevens, Boehringer Ingelheim, Versanis, Lloyd Klickstein, Chaguturu, Deena Beasley, Michele Gershberg, Jamie Freed Organizations: DIEGO, Novo Nordisk's, American Diabetes Association, Novo, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, ADA, Pfizer, Therapeutics, Zealand Pharma, Novartis, CVS Health, Aetna, Thomson Locations: San Diego, GLP

☆ Inside your company's struggle over whether to pay for hot, new weight-loss drugs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Americans are clamoring for new weight-loss drugs, but companies aren't rushing to pay for them. At most, half of US employers help pay for weight-loss drugs for their workers, according to several estimates. "The drug companies, providers, and patient groups are insisting that weight loss will improve health and therefore offset these massive costs. Known as GLP-1 agonists, the drugs — Wegovy and Ozempic from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro — mimic a gut hormone known as glucagon-like peptide 1, helping to suppress people's appetites and slow their digestion. Brent Eberle, the chief pharmacy officer at Navitus, said very few of the employers that worked with his pharmacy-benefit manager paid for weight-loss drugs.

Persons: that's, They're, AJ Loiacono, Li Ran, James Gelfand, Eli Lilly's, Ozempic, drugmakers, Brent Eberle, Navitus, Eberle, it's, Pat Gleason, Gleason, Wegovy, Eli Lilly, Lilly, Florian Gaertner, Loiacono Organizations: Morning, Novo Nordisk, Getty, Workers, Drugmakers, Therapeutics, Blue, Mayo Clinic, and Drug Administration, Capital Locations: Novo, Xinhua

☆ Bone loss occurs in teens who have weight loss surgery, study says. Is that unique?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The bones of teens and young adults who lost significant weight after bariatric surgery were weaker than those of youth with similar levels of obesity who did not have surgery, a new study found. Despite counseling, teens and young adults who did not undergo weight loss surgery continued to gain weight over those two years, the study found. However, it’s difficult to accurately study bone loss in adolescents and young adults. A study would need to follow teens who underwent surgery for at least 10 years to determine if the bone loss seen in the new study lasts, Inge said. “That’s why we insist that people undergoing weight loss surgery take their multivitamin with calcium and vitamin D every day, just like medicine.”

Persons: Miriam Bredella, “, ” Bredella, Don’t, Thomas Inge, Robert H, Lurie, ”, Inge, they’re, Bredella, it’s, Justin Ryder, Ryder, Heike Faber, iStockphoto, haven’t, ” Ryder, ” Inge Organizations: CNN, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Ann, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, NASA, BMI, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, “ Locations: Massachusetts, Boston, Chicago

☆ Weight-loss surgery is becoming more common among children and teens, new research shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Millions of children and teens live with obesity in the United States, and weight-loss surgery is becoming a more common way to treat it, new research shows. The trend held strong in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, even as the number of weight-loss surgeries among adults dipped. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of weight-loss surgeries among youth jumped 19%. Childhood obesity is more prevalent among certain populations, including Black and Hispanic youth, according to the CDC. The new data shows that weight-loss surgery increased more than twice as much as average among these populations, up 42% among Back youth and 53% among Hispanic youth between 2020 and 2021.

☆ Obesity is a chronic disease. It's why treating it will be so profitable unless payers push back
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Lilly manufactures tirzepatide, which is sold under the brand name Mounjaro as a type 2 diabetes treatment. It's the chronic nature of obesity that will make these drugs so profitable, analysts have said. Huynh increased his target due to higher expectations for Mounjaro sales this year. Huynh boosted his prediction for the drug's sales this year to $3.7 billion from an prior estimate of $2.7 billion. "$48 billion is a monster number," Holz said, referring to an annual sales estimate that Bank of America has floated for future Mounjaro sales.

☆ More Kids Get Weight-Loss Surgery to Treat Obesity
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Sarah Toy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A bariatric surgery can benefit children as young as 13, according to guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Photo: Luis Robayo/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesMore children are getting stomach surgery to help them lose weight, the most drastic of measures doctors are recommending to confront relentlessly rising obesity rates. Many of the young people who undergo bariatric surgery didn’t lose weight through diet, exercise or weight-loss drugs. Bariatric surgery can be a faster, more lasting fix for patients with severe obesity, researchers and pediatricians said.

☆ I traveled to Mexico for bariatric surgery, and my husband was not happy about it — but I have no regrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jenny Powers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Kasey Spicer traveled to Tijuana for bariatric surgery in 2021 and had a successful experience. Her husband didn't want her to go, but it went so well, he got the same surgery in Mexico in 2022. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kasey Spicer, a 44-year-old school teacher from Lexington, South Carolina, about traveling to Mexico for bariatric surgery. Editor's note: Mayo Clinic research found that bariatric surgery can be a safe option for obese patients with coronary-artery disease. Rob and Kasey before and after their bariatric surgery.

☆ Workers are clamoring for pricey new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic. Companies are grappling with how to respond.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Companies that pay for workers' health insurance are grappling with how to cover the pricey drugs. Medicare, the federal program that provides health coverage for people 65 and older, doesn't cover weight-loss drugs. ArcBest already has a program to help workers lose weight through behavior changes and nutrition. Krutsch said he wants to build on that, covering the weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Saxenda for employees who aren't able to lose weight without medication. The new weight-loss drugs were in short supply in 2022, and that gave employers time to figure out how to handle them, he said.

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